Went to another auction today!!!

There is a fellow in Dubuque that made fancy railings. The poor fellow is 54 with stage 4 colon cancer. So he had an auction today to sell his business and excess personal stuff.

I have played around with machine tools at different times in my life. I always wanted a Bridgeport Milling machine. He had a pretty nice one on his sale.

So I went mainly just for that mill. They had 5-6 wagon loads of stuff. The tooling sold on the wagons. So I bought his set of collets. Plus a bunch of end mills and milling cutters. Ended up with a bunch of drill bits with tapered shanks that will fit a Bridgeport with an adaptor.

Ended up getting a Avey drill press, a Covel surface grinder, CNC turning center, and another two stage air compressor.

The Bridgeport brought three times what I have been seeing them sell for. A younger fellow was bidding on it and I finally just let him have it. It was setup for single phase. He has one that is setup for 3 phase that he wants to sell. I may go and look at it.

So once again I go an buy a bunch of things I did not really need and did not get what I really wanted. LOL It will take two more trips to get it all hauled home.

You might have just gained another hobby to consider...re your recent post. My first college job was in a machine shop, and it spawned my interest in turning metal. Bought a 1910 South Bend lathe back then, still have it. Modernized a few years ago with a quick change 15 inch swing, 8 foot bed lathe. Same sale had a Milwaukee mill that I got for $235. Three phase, so I made a phase converter that runs both machines. Always fun to see steel take on a new form.

I have a friend that buys that kind of tooling when he can find it and re-sells it on e-Bay at a profit. He's a retired machine shop owner.

look at it on the other side you helped the fellow out.

JD
I have been hunting a Bridgeport vertical mill for quiet a few years. I've found a few but never at a price I was willing to pay. I have a Southbend lathe a Powermatic drill press and an old Atlas horizontal mill. The little mill works fine but is very limited as far as the size of the work piece you can get on the table. One day I'll find that Bridgeport.

Poorly ran auction. They should of sold the mill first and then the tooling.

Jd about 10yr,s ago I bought a bridgport from a dealer (used) in waterloo for $2000. he had 4 or 5 for that price. but cant remember his name. but it was south of us 20. ill check and see if I can find it. Bob

Bridgeport mills are sorta the John Deere 4020 of machine tools. They bring high dollar on name alone. I've seen some real junkers sell for big money. I lucked into one at a private sale about 5 years ago. A decent machinist with a bit of creativity can make just about anything with a good milling machine and proper tooling. Just keep an ear to the ground and a pocket full of money. They pop up at decent prices every now and then.

I've always considered going to an auction with the intent of buying a specific item akin to playing Russian Roulette....with only one empty chamber. Just gotta go, wait for a sweet deal, and not get an itchy trigger finger, or else you own an over priced item and an under inflated wallet.

What exactly is a Bridgeport? What does it do? Is that a brand name?

A Bridgeport is a brand of small mill that is what a lot of hobby guys use , and there are still quite a few in the industry for those simple jobs that'd take too long to set up and run in a CNC mill. They can be retrofitted with CNC controls, power feeds, etc and really are a handy machine.

The New shop I work at has atleast 2 that I've noticed. They are also a slightly less expensive way to train apprentices and new machinists than giving them a $500,000 machine to crash. The machine I run came with around a $1,000,000 price tag from what I was told. I could also throw most small cars on the table and turn them into chips....

Donovan from Wisconsin

My FIL found me a nice Bridgeport in Detroit a couple years ago. Set up for single phase and came with a couple boxes of tooling and a vice and DRO all for $2000. He is still looking for a lathe for me but most of the machinery has dried up in Detroit as most of the shops are gone and the chinese have bought every thing up. JD, when you get your Bridgeport someday you will be glad you bought the tooling because you can never have enough with a Bridgeport and new tooling is very expensive.

I have wanted a Bridgeport for quite a while too. I finally found one a few months ago that was reasonably close to home and not too expensive. I converted it to single phase and added a power feed. Pretty handy machine!

Leroy a Bridgeport is a brand of vertical milling machine. You can not only move the table in the x and y axis, you can also rotate the spindle head.

With the right tooling and attachments you can do just about anything with one. There are literally hundreds of tools and attachments for them.

One thing about Bridgeport Mills and price is the condition of the mill. Have to check wear parts(spindle bearings, ways, free play, etc). I have seen mills older, but nice and tight. Also, have seen mills I would not pay scrap price for.

Sounds like you had fun, too bad you didn't get the mill. Like others, I have always wanted a Bridgeport mill. I see them for around 2,000 out here on the left coast. I have a import now. I have more need of my Southbend lathe than a mill. Stan

I'm wondering if going to the auctions has become his retirement plan? On the other hand buying and selling tools & equipment and doing bench work (rebuilds and light parts manufacturing) could become a hobby that could keep you busy and break even or more, not a bad way to retire and if you keep busy you'll get to be retired longer.